Place and
Manners.
brown: the head and neck incline to alh-colour, efpecially the
forehead and chin : the bread:, belly, thighs, and vent, pale
dulky ferruginous: legs black,, rough, and warty: claws very
hooked : the hind toe very fhort, but the claw crooked and lharp.
This is a very voracious and fierce fpecies, and inhabits the
northern parts of thefe kingdoms, for the mod part: we however
now and then meet with it towards the Joitih, as two or three in-
ftances have evinced'us; one in our own colledtion being Ihot near
Greenwich. It moftly frequents the Sehetland ljles, and thofe of
Ferroe. Is alfo common in Norway, and as far as Iceland. On.
the rocky ifland Foula is much efteemed, as it is faid;to defend
the flocks from the Eagle, which it beats and purfues with great
fury; the natives denying that it ever injures or attacks the
poultry *. It often preys on the teller Gulls, and other birds, in
the fame manner as the Hawk; and is feen to attack thefirft on
the wing,, in order to make them, difgorge the JiJh they may have
taken ; as has been before obferved in refpedt to the bald Eagle -fv
During incubation is courageous to an alarming degree, in regard
to its young; as it will then attack feveral perfons in company
without fear, Ihould they approach its haunts J. Thefe birds alfo
are frequent in many high latitudes of the fouthern hemifphere :
our circumnavigators met with them in Falkland ljles, particularly
about Port Egmont, whence called Port Egmont Hens. In.
this place, and at Ferra del Fuego, they were obferved to make
their nefts among the dry grafs-1|-. After breeding-time difperfe
over the ocean, and for the moll part feen in pairs §. Met with
* Dr. Forfter informs us, that it often tears Lambs to pieces in the Ferroe ljles,
and carries them to the neft.— Voy. i. p. 118. f See vol. i. p. 29, of this Work*
X For a fuller account of the manners, fee Brittjh Zoology,
|| Fpjfa Voy. i* p. ^93. § Cook's Voy, i. p. 44,
Mf . i f
in Kerguelen’s Land, and off the Cape of Good Hope, and other
parts *. In all places the manners are the fame in refpeft to its
ferocity : is frequently feen to attack the largeft Albatrofs, beating
it with great violence fo long as it remains on the wing;
at which time this cowardly giant finds no other refource than
to fettle on the water; on which the Skua flies away. We
cannot for certain affirm this to be the Sea Crow of Kolben f ,
which he tells us is in plenty at the Cape, becaufe he fays
the flelh is delicate, and much valued ; whereas, from the manners
of the Skua, it Ihould appear juft the contrary : but we are
ted to think it pofiible, when he fays that the feathers are very
foft, and much ufed for fluffing of beds a'nd culhions; and more
efpecially fuppofe it at leaft to be of the Ga//tribe, as the feathers
of all this genus are faid to be ufed indiferiminately for
that purpofe at the Cape, in preference to thofe of the Goofe,
many thoufands being kilted every year for that purpofe J.
Larus crepidatus, Haruikef, Voy. i. p. 15.
Catarra&a cepphus, Brun. p. 36. N° 126. pl. in ditto.—Muller, p. 21.—
Pbil. Tranf. lii. p. 135.— Rail Syn. p. 129. N° I I .—-WHI, Orn,
P. 351.pi. 67.
Le Stercoraire rayé, BriJ. Orn. vi. p. 152. 2. pl. 13. fig. 2.
L ’ Abbe, ou Stercoraire, Buf. Oif, viii. p. 441. pl. 34»— Fl. Enl. 991.
-Black-toed Gull, Br, Zool, ii. p. 244. pl. 86.— Ar&, Zool. N° 460.
Lev. Muf,
TH IS is fifteen inches in length: thirty-nine in breadth : and
weighs eleven ounces. The bill is an inch and a half long,
* See Haosskef. Voy. ii. p. 283.— Cook’s Voy. i. p. 44. 272.— Fcrfi, Voy. i. p. 109.
1:18.—ii. p. 493.— Cook’s laß Voy. i. p. 88. and elfewhere.
ft Kolb. Cap. ii. p. 241. I Kolb. Cap. i. p. 244.
' 5-
BLACK-TOED
T.
D e s c r i p t i o n .